Tire for wheels of road-vehicles.



No. 638,605. Patented Dec. 5, |899.

Y W. & L. H. SWAIN.

TIRE FOR WHEELS 0F ROAD VEHICLES.

(Application led Duc. 28, 1898.)

(No Model.)

TH: mams wrznspo. PnoTcLurno.. wAsHmGrcN. u. c.

UNrTnD STATES PATENT OFFICE,

lVALTER SVAIN AND LEONARD HARTLEY SWAIN, OF BOLTON, ENGLAND.

TIRE FOR WH EELS OF ROAD-VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 638,605, dated December5, 1899.

Application led December 23, 1898. Serial No. 700,183. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that we, WALTER SwAIN and LEONARD HARTLEY SWAIN, subjects ofthe Queen of Great Britain, residing at 177 Belmont road, Astley Bridge,Bolton, in the county of Lancaster, England, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Inflatable Tires for the Wheels of Road-Vehicles,of which the following description is a specification.

Our invention relates to iniiatable tires for the Wheels ofroad-vehicles, and has for its object the production of said tires insuch a manner and of such a nature that when the same are deflated theymaybe readily applied to the rims of the wheels upon which they are tobe mounted, whilewhen they are mounted thereon and inliated they willrmly grip or lay hold of said rims, so as to be thereby enabled toperform the functions desired of them efficiently.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings, which are illustrative of ourinvention, Figures 1 and 2 are sectional end elevations showing the formassumed by certain of the parts hereinafter described when the tire isinated. Figs. 3 and 4 are dia-grams illustrating certain methods ofproduction hereinafter described.

In carrying our invention into effect we make use of theindia-rubber-covered fabric to form the outer surface or walls of thetire, of and in the well-known kind and manner, with the exception thatwe produce or construct the fabric or canvas part of said outer cover ofsuch a nature that when drawn or pulled longitudinally it will extend inthat direction, but at such time it will become narrower, while when itis drawn or pulled laterally or transversely, so as to have its Widthincreased, it will be made shorter, at any time the elasticity of theindia-rubber enabling this latter to accommodate itself to the varyingdimensions of said fabric, as is well understood. In producing saidcanvas we arrange the interwoven or interlaced threads d so that theyare approximately evenly distributed throughout the fabric whether suchfabric or canvas is woven or braided. The latter process being the morepreferable, therefore it is the one alone illustrated. XVe further formsaid canvas so that those of its component threads (which may be ofbrous substances or of metal wire) which are employed to form the edgesb b are not carried over as large a lateral space as are the threads a,the relative dimensions of the spaces they extend over being somewhatapproximately indicated by Fig. 4, by which means the central part d ofthe canvas may be varied in length or width by pulling or drawing to agreater extent than will the edges or bordering parts b b. Thus Whenstrips of canvas, formed as described, are joined together and theirouter ends are secured to each other (on which the covering ofindia-rubber is placed over and caused to adhere by any suitableadhesive substance to these canvas parts) they may be placed over wheelrims c to cover inner tubes CZ, which on being inflated will draw ordistend same to Iit within the hollows of said rims c, andthat the moresaid iniating-tubes d press upon them the more tightly and rmly'willthey press upon the rims, since the lateral strains on said canvas partsb b will tend to diminish their lengths and so bring them to bear irmlyagainst the rim c, which counteract or withstand such contractions ofthecanvas.

Ve may either produce both the central part d and the bordering parts-bb in one part by the process of interlocking their several respectivethreads during and by the braiding operations or ive may produce them inseparate pieces and afterward sew, stitch, or otherwise secure themtogether; but whether the one or the other of Athese processes isfollowed during its being actually carried into effect we arrange theparts b b to be at a greater tension longitudinally than are thoseforming the central part d of same, While at such time we have these`said centrally-situated threads d held or. drawn laterally, by whichmeans when the canvas thus produced is brought into use by beingdistended from within its central part a is caused so to act upon itsedges b b' that the whole firmly grips the rim.

To produce tires of other shapes than circular in cross-section, it isonly necessary to make the canvas parts in several sections instead ofin only three, as above set forth, such as the one shown by Fig. 4, inwhich there are ve sections a, b b', and b2 b3, each IOO section beingheld at the necessary tension (in Which it varies from that of itsneighbor) during the time it is being secured to the others, as abovedescribed. y

' Coverings made of canvas produced as above described may be employedin connection with inner inflating-tubes, as shown by Fig. l, or byhaving their edges b b arranged to overlap each other on the rim c theymay be used Without such inner tube, or, again, more than one of suchcoverings may be used in the production of a single inflated tire, inwhich case they would be placed one over or upon another.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our saidinvention and in What manner the saine is to be performed, we declarethat what We claim is -1. The Inethod of manufacturing bicycletires,which consists in forming separate tread and edge sections, and holdingsaid tread-section at a diiferent tension from said edge-sections Whilethe latter `are being united to the former, substantially as set forth.

2. Abicycle-tire comprising a central treadsection, and separateedge-sections, all of which are formed by the process of braiding, andmeans for uniting said sections While under different tensions,substantially as and for the purpose set forth. Y

3. A bicycle-tire comprising a central treadsection, and a plurality ofedge-sections of different degrees of elasticity, and means for unitingall of said sections While under different tensions, substantially asand for the 35 purpose set forth.

WALTER sWAIN. LEONARD HAETLEY sWAIN.

Witnesses SAMUEL HEY, DAN DUTToN.

